One name you keep hearing associated with the Green Bay Packers and their No. 27 overall draft pick is Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry.
There’s good reason for that. The Packers could obviously use an upgrade at the tight end position, where incumbent Richard Rodgers averaged a meager 8.8 yards per reception in 2015, and Henry is the best of the bunch.
The problem for the Packers is he looks like the only first-round pick tight end in this year’s draft.
ESPN only has three other guys with fourth-round grades or better. They are Stanford’s Austin Hooper (2), South Carolina’s Jerell Adams (3) and Ohio State’s Nick Vannett (3).
That’s not a lot of impact players to choose from. Rookie tight ends are historically not terribly productive either.
Maxx Williams, the top tight end selected in the 2015 NFL Draft (No. 55), had a Rodgers-like 32 catches for 268 yards (8.4 per) and one touchdown last season. The top guy in the 2014 draft, Eric Ebron (No. 10), caught 25 balls for 248 yards and one touchdown as a rookie.
Even the Packers’ best recent tight end, Jermichael Finley, was essentially a no-show as a rookie. He had just six catches for 74 yards in 2008.
That’s evidence of two things.
The Packers are reluctant to play rookies at all, but especially tight ends. Another example is Kennard Backman, a 2015 draft pick. He played all of 11 snaps on offense last season.
As those first three examples illustrate, even if a tight end is drafted highly and gets ample playing time, you shouldn’t expect big things of him during his rookie season.
The Packers may be better off looking to the free agent market, at least if they want more production out of the tight end position in 2016.
The list of free agent tight ends isn’t overwhelming by any means, but the Packers could potentially find some decent competition for Rodgers for the right price.
Indianapolis’ Coby Fleener has had some moments and he’s only 27. San Diego’s Ladarius Green is just 25.
Then there’s 28-year-old Jared Cook, who was released by the Rams last week.
Those are decent options.
Unfortunately, we suspect the Packers will choose none of them.
We fully expect Ted Thompson to give Rodgers another year and to pick a developmental tight end in this year’s draft.
Sure, if Henry is there at 27, we could see Ted pulling the trigger. However, even if he does, Henry isn’t likely to unseat Rodgers in year one anyway.